A Special Mother’s Day Episode: Choose Yourself and Reclaim Your E.P.I.C. Life

If you’re anything like the vast majority of the mothers I’ve been talking with, you’ve been feeling disoriented and like you’ve lost yourself during these last few months. You may be wondering how am I ever going to come back home to myself?

I had been feeling this way too…overwhelmed with fear, moving through all the stages of grief, and juggling demands at home that now included supporting my children’s distance learning… on top of all the other things!

In this special Mother’s Day episode, I share how the E.P.I.C. Life framework itself, words of wisdom from past guests on the podcast, and a question my teenage son Ryan asked me, started to help me reclaim myself.Listen in for special clips lighting my way from episodes I’ll be re-releasing this week as part of a special series to light the way in the midst of challenge:

I also share about some epic plans for our third annual Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge, the one Graeme Seabrooke and I had created together in our conversation on the podcast two years ago. Taking place starting May 11th, in the freeMother’s Quest Facebook Group, it’s a 7-day journey to reclaiming ourselves, a chance to reflect together, along a new process I’m naming “CHOOSE,” and to create or refine our own manifestos for living our lives, yes even in the midst of a pandemic. Sign uphereto join us.

As for me, I’ve learned on Mother’s Day, that in addition to spending time with my children, I need some time to myself. So, today I’ll be going on my favorite milestone hike, and when I reach the summit, I’ll sit down and listen to my favorite meditation, one called “Teshuvah”or “Return” in Hebrew, that brings new meaning to the idea of setting out on a journey and returning home. Of losing our center and finding it again.

So, this Mother’s Day, I invite you to find your center again as you listen to this episode, and ask yourself some of the same questions I’ve been exploring. In what ways have you been feeling trapped? When was the last time you felt connected to your purpose? And what might it take for you to open a door for yourself…to choose yourself…and to take even just one tentative step closer to your version of an E.P.I.C. life?

One Possible Next Step: Join Us for the Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge

The Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge is a 7-day experience that will move you through a series of reflective prompts to support you in creating or refining a “manifesto” of your own to become an anchor in your life in these years that you are raising your children.

In addition to reflective prompts that I’ll share live in the group each morning, I’ve invited a different mother to also go live, to share their journey and manifestos and also to offer a tool or practice that would support the prompt we’re reflecting on.

This year, I’ll be exploring a new acronym mnemonic and framework “CHOOSE” that captures the process I went through when I claimed my manifesto…a process I realized has been with me in all the other times of my life when I shifted a perspective and moved myself forward in a powerful way.

Here is what’s in store for you in the next 7 days.

5/10 Mother’s Day Wishes – I’ll be live in the group at some point to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day, welcome new members, share about why we co-created the challenge two years ago, and set the frame for the week.

5/11 Day 1: C with Lindsay Pera – “Claim” the experience or opportunity in front of you that calls you to something different; sometimes these are even painful moments you would not choose for yourself. Sometimes these feel like a “sign” that calls to you in mysterious ways. What is the “spark” for you?

5/12 Day 2: H with Jadah Sellner– “Hold space for reflection” give yourself an opportunity to pause and make meaning of what is happening so you can learn from it and consciously move forward in a different way

5/13 Day 3: O with Nic Strack– “Own the perspective” that is NOT serving you. What story are you telling yourself that feels outdated? Or what way of looking at something is feeling out of alignment or holding you back? Before you can move forward, it’s important to really look at where you are now.

5/14 Day 4: O with Jamie Greenwood– “Own a more empowering perspective” explore a new way of looking at something that resonates for you and that returns a sense of power to you

5/15 Day 5: S with Amy Walsh and Elsie Escober– “Stake in the ground” put your stake in the ground and claim this new perspective by expressing it clearly (and sharing when/if you feel comfortable). This is the day when the manifesto itself comes into form. I’ve invited several key guests this day who will each offer a different creation method that you can utilize to help express yourself.

5/16 Day 6: E with Jessica Stong– “Explore one next step” begin to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be by taking setting intention for one action.

5/17 Day 7: Reflection and Celebration CircleAn opportunity to come together via zoom after the challenge is over to reflect on the process, lessons learned and to share our manifestos with one another. Co-facilitated by me and Graeme Seabrook

Sign up here to get daily reminders and to download the FREE Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge Reflection Journal.

As this message reaches your inbox, it’s Mother’s Day… in the midst of a global pandemic. And if you’re anything like the vast majority of the mothers I’ve been talking with, you’ve been feeling disoriented and like you’ve lost yourself, during these last few months. You may even be wondering “how am I ever going to come back home to myself?”

I had been feeling this way too…overwhelmed with fear, moving through all the stages of grief, and juggling demands at home that now included supporting my children’s distance learning, on top of all the other things.

For the first time in the three years since I launched the podcast, I had stopped recording and releasing episodes. And I honestly wondered whether my work even mattered. All around me, life as I knew it was literally shut down while we physically sheltered in place. And inside, I also felt shut down.

This is not the first time I felt this way or found my way out.

About a decade into motherhood, after navigating developmental delays with my oldest and five years of infertility to get pregnant with my youngest, I realized that in focusing so much on my own children and what they needed, I had lost parts of myself and sidelined my dreams. An experience I had one day, opening the door for two birds that got trapped in my home, and were crashing into the glass to get out, helped me realize that I felt trapped too and needed a door opened for me.

But I also realized that no one else could help me, unless I opened the door for myself and took the first tentative steps toward what I now call my E.P.I.C. life. That day, in addition to motherhood, I also chose myself. And living my E.P.I.C. life became a manifesto, a simple but enduring framework.

In this special Mother’s Day episode, I share clips from my introductory episode with reflections on the E.P.I.C. Life framework itself and clips from episodes with past guests, whose words of wisdom have been lighting my way right now. I hope these stories and messages may spark a return to yourself if you need it.

Listen in for special clips lighting my way from episodes I’ll be re-releasing this week as part of a special series to light the way in the midst of challenge:

Along with listening to these episodes, it was actually my son Ryan who really helped me. Telling him one night, while putting dishes in the dishwasher for what felt like the tenth time that day, that I was feeling depressed, he asked me “when was the last time you felt connected to your purpose, Mom? I notice you haven’t talked about Mother’s Quest in weeks.”

That question really sat with me. And then I remembered Graeme’s words from our interview again. Our stories matter. Our manifestos matter. And we need each other.

I also set in motion some epic plans for our third annual Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge, the one Graeme and I had created together. Taking place in the free Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, it’s a 7-day journey, beginning tomorrow, May 11th, to reclaiming ourselves, a chance to reflect together, along a new process I’m naming “CHOOSE,” and to create or refine our own manifestos for living our lives the way that matters, yes even in the midst of a pandemic.

As for me, I’ve learned on Mother’s Day, that in addition to spending time with my children, I need some time to myself. So, today I’ll be going on my favorite milestone hike, and when I reach the summit, I’ll sit down and listen to my favorite meditation, one called “Teshuvah” or “Return” in Hebrew, that brings new meaning to the idea of setting out on a journey and returning home. Of losing our center and finding it again.

So, this Mother’s Day, I invite you to do something that may help you find your center again, in whatever way could be possible given the real constraints in your life. And to consider exploring some questions: In what ways have you been feeling trapped? When was the last time you felt connected to your purpose? And how might you open a door for yourself…to choose yourself…and to take even just one tentative step closer to your version of an E.P.I.C. life?

Give Yourself a Gift this Mother’s Day!
Join us for the Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge

The Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge is a 7-day experience that will move you through a series of reflective prompts to support you in creating or refining a “manifesto” of your own to become an anchor in your life in these years that you are raising your children.

In addition to reflective prompts that I’ll share live in the group each morning, I’ve invited a different mother to also go live, to share their journey and manifestos and also to offer a tool or practice that would support the prompt we’re reflecting on.

This year, I’ll be exploring a new acronym mnemonic and framework “CHOOSE” that captures the process I went through when I claimed my manifesto…a process I realized has been with me in all the other times of my life when I shifted a perspective and moved myself forward in a powerful way.

Here is what’s in store for you in the next 7 days.

5/10 Mother’s Day with Graeme Seabrook – Both Graeme and I will be live in the group at some point to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day, welcome new members, share about why we co-created the challenge two years ago, and set the frame for the week.

5/11 Day 1: C with Lindsay Pera – “Claim” the experience or opportunity in front of you that calls you to something different; sometimes these are even painful moments you would not choose for yourself. Sometimes these feel like a “sign” that calls to you in mysterious ways. What is the “spark” for you?

5/12 Day 2: H with Jadah Sellner – “Hold space for reflection” give yourself an opportunity to pause and make meaning of what is happening so you can learn from it and consciously move forward in a different way

5/13 Day 3: O with Nic Strack – “Own the perspective” that is NOT serving you. What story are you telling yourself that feels outdated? Or what way of looking at something is feeling out of alignment or holding you back? Before you can move forward, it’s important to really look at where you are now.

5/14 Day 4: O with Jamie Greenwood – “Own a more empowering perspective” explore a new way of looking at something that resonates for you and that returns a sense of power to you

5/15 Day 5: S with Amy Walsh and Elsie Escobar – “Stake in the ground” put your stake in the ground and claim this new perspective by expressing it clearly (and sharing when/if you feel comfortable). This is the day when the manifesto itself comes into form. I’ve invited several key guests this day who will each offer a different creation method that you can utilize to help express yourself.

5/16 Day 6: E with Jessica Stong – “Explore one next step” begin to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be by taking setting intention for one action.

5/17 Day 7: Reflection and Celebration Circle An opportunity to come together via zoom after the challenge is over to reflect on the process, lessons learned and to share our manifestos with one another.

Sign up here to get daily reminders and to download the FREE Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge Reflection Journal.

If you’d rather listen than read, you can also go straight to the episode post here.

After a podcast pause, I’m back with a bite-sized reflection from living my own E.P.I.C. life. If in the midst of this global pandemic, you’re someone like me, with the privilege of sheltering in place, and find yourself swinging from gratitude and inspiration to exasperation, this reflection is for you!

In this minisode, I share some of the things I’ve been reading and listening to that have supported me, and how they all weaved together one night when I sat down to write some aspirations for myself, something I’m referring to now as my “Pandemic Promise.” I hope you’ll give yourself some pause so you can listen in, hear about some of the practices and ideas that are grounding me right now, and consider writing a promise to yourself.

After a podcast pause, I’m back with a bite-sized reflection from living my own E.P.I.C. life, that I hope may support you right where you are right now. If in the midst of this global pandemic, you’re someone who has the privilege of sheltering in place like I do, and find yourself swinging from gratitude and inspiration to exasperation…I want you to know you are not alone. By night, I’ll find myself writing a poem

And the next morning I’m tearing my hair out at Google Classroom and yelling at my children.Many afternoons, when I’ve given up on any hope of providing “education” or “enrichment” to my 7-year-old, I’ll pass him the Ipad, and sink into reading posts and essays and listening to live videos or past episodes from my own podcast, that are slowly helping me to make meaning of this time. I thought I’d offer some of these things I’ve been absorbing, with links so you can check them out for yourself. And then, I wanted to share with you a promise I wrote to myself, and invite you to make a promise of your own, if that feels right to you. The first thing I want to encourage you to go and read is an essay by an Indian author Arundhati Roy in which she writes about how the coronavirus is an epic tragedy for her country and the world. But she also suggests that we not rush to a return to normalcy. In a powerful closing that had me catch my breath, she suggests that the virus is a “portal,” a gateway between one world and the next, and an opportunity to “break free from our current world and imagine it anew.” Shortly after reading the essay, I watched a live video from my coach and mentor Lindsay Pera, herself trying to recover as she and her family have been sick with COVID-19 for over a month now. Lindsay referenced the idea that in this time of pause, for many of us, we are transforming, much like a caterpillar transforms inside its cocoon. She cautions against trying to break free from the cocoon too soon, before we have reformed, and invites us to create stillness and reflection in our pause. And I read something from an anonymous writer who crafted a powerful metaphor about the virus as the storm we all find ourselves in, but the important reminder that we are not all in the same boat. We have very different circumstances, based on whether we are healthy, our profession, our family make-up, and our economic circumstances, among so many other factors, that make our experience of this storm unique.

I’ve also found comfort in past podcast episodes. From Avanti Kumar Singh’s episode, I’m reminded of the power of ancient traditions, like Ayurveda, that remind us to create daily rituals, and that we have so much power to heal within. My conversation with Avanti a year ago inspired me to start pausing in the middle of the day, to lay on my back, and look up at the sky from my bedroom deck. And so, several afternoons, when things feel like they are spinning, II find myself there, grounding myself literally. My conversation with Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project has had me thinking about my “sparktype,” that unique blueprint that can help me root into and reconnect to my purpose. Jonathan also asked me to slow down in our conversation, giving me a challenge to spend some time when I first wake up, with my hand on my heart, to ask myself “what do I most want today?”And when I feel a sense of despair and fear amid the uncertainty for our future, I think about my conversation with Nikka Smith, about the power of connecting to the wisdom of our ancestors, and how they are always with us. I think particularly about my grandmothers on both sides, and the stories I’ve heard about their challenges and their resilience. And I commit to make time with my children to talk with my parents about their own stories. And my episode with mindfulness expert Michelle Gale, reminded me of her powerful three breath practice, and how we can try to find our own calm amid the storm. When I sat down to write, I found the threads of meaning and reflection from all these sources weaving together into something I’m calling a “Pandemic Promise.” Here it is:

//A Pandemic Promise//

If the Pandemic is a Portal

Then I commit to breathe more deeply while I wait inside this pause

When I wake, hand on my heart, I’ll ask myself the questions that matter.

I’ll find moments to lay flat on my back and look to the sky.

I’ll consciously create routines that will feed me and my family, all the while reaching for equanimity, a grounded calm to anchor me from the storm.

And I’ll remember I have a unique blueprint,

to spark and express my purpose in service of others.

When I feel most afraid, I’ll gather stories of resilience from my parents, mentors and guides.

This time in-between time is fleeting faster than I realize.

And though we cannot pretend that we are all in the same boat, *a storm of the same name rages around each of us and calls us to something bigger than ourselves.

So my wish is not to hurry it along so I can come through the other side of the portal unchanged.

But, instead to slow myself down within it and emerge transformed, even a little…

Less attached to material items and attuned to consume and more committed to equity

And to seeing the humanity in each of us.

This moment in time won’t come again this way I tell myself.

Seize it.

Reimagine.

And contribute to a better day.

What about you? What’s been grounding you during these times? What might you write in your own “Pandemic Promise?” Comment here or in our Mother’s Quest Facebook Group. I’d love to hear.

—

If you’d rather listen than read, you can also go straight to the podcast episode here.

Overcoming Overwhelm: Dismantle Your Stress from the Inside Out is the title of the book written by my guest for this episode of the podcast, Dr. Samantha Brody. Dr. Samantha, as she is frequently called, is a licensed naturopathic physician and acupuncturist, and the founder of Evergreen Natural Health Center in Portland, OR. For decades in her private practice and virtual consulting business, she has helped thousands of people transform their lives with her innovative, personalized approach.

I love how the right podcast guest presents herself to me every time.

Because the truth is, I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed in my life right now. A new puppy, challenges with our younger son in relationship with the puppy, a traumatic experience with an active shooter scare at a theme park with my son Ryan, and a cold and cough that I couldn’t shake was definitely creating a sense of overwhelm.

But, inspired by this conversation, I decided to take a pause and start to take steps that are already helping me feel better. I said no to some things on my to do list, I pushed out the date of this episode’s release and I started shutting down my computer in the evenings. I reached out to Dr. Samantha for a consultation about my health and my friend, Casey O’Roarty of the Joyful Courage Podcast, for a positive parenting coaching session. I also posted in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group to share what was happening and was met with an outpouring of support. One mother who responded with compassion and to tell me I was not alone in how I was feeling was Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel, the perfect person to bring us this episode’s dedication about the importance of saying no and caring for ourselves. Anne’s dedication, this conversation on the podcast, and the challenge and tools that Dr. Samantha invites us to explore have been powerful invitations for me to slow down, to look at what I value most, and to realign with a focus on self-compassion and self-care, to those things. I invite you to press pause, to release something from your to do list today, so that you have a little more space to listen in to this reflective conversation with Dr. Samantha. Then follow through as I will with the “values” exercise she gives us as our challenge, share what you discover in the Mother’s Quest Facebook group where Samantha will be following up with us, and join me in taking more steps toward overcoming overwhelm.

Much appreciation,P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by:
Anne Fergurson of Mamafuel

This episode is dedicated by Anne Ferguson to every mama who has said no to the overwhelm and lovingly took the time to take care of themselves, so they can show up strong and whole in their lives and with the people they love.

Anne is the founder of MamaFuel, a global community of mamas who are learning to put themselves first, so they can enjoy happier relationships with their kids and thrive in every part of their lives. Anne hosts amazing urban retreats for mamas across Switzerland, where she lives with her husband, two daughters and one very demanding dog.Anne is also the host of MamaFuel: The Podcast in which she shares raw, real and often funny conversations with mamas who are doing great things in ways large and small. Her mission is to change the way mamas treat themselves and each other so we can live in a more connected, harmonious world where mamas are thriving.

Anne’s passion for words and how we talk to ourselves and each other expands beyond MamaFuel. Anne recently founded Your Process Lab, a company that’s revolutionizing the way organizations train and motivate their people by ditching stiff, archaic language and communicating in ways that make today’s workforce take action. Anne consults to the United Nations on language and communication and is expanding her activities to include public speaking across Europe.Visit the MamaFuel website: https://www.mamafuel.me/

How Samantha’s medical trauma and experience being bullied may have impacted her healing career path

Samantha’s commitment to empowering and supporting her patients to express their needs and advocate for themselves.

Living in integrity with your values and the “tells” our body gives us when we are out of alignment

Conversations with Samantha’s son about his adoption and about race (he is biracial and Samantha and her husband are white) from the time he was young and how that set up an openness and honesty about all kinds of conversation

What is overwhelm and Samantha’s four-step process for overcoming it

How so many things in our lives can come in “seasons” and how in this season for Samantha, slowing down to pause is serving her most

For this week’s challenge, Dr. Samantha challenges us to do the values exercise from a chapter in her book. This exercise is designed to help you understand what aspects of your inner and outer worlds are most important to you.

You’ll discover what values and ideals you want your life–and your choices– to be lining up with on a daily basis.

This is the first step, Dr. Samantha says, in finally overcoming overwhelm; if you’re trying to have less stress and/or if you want to be less overwhelmed, lining your choices up with your values is the key to making that happen.

Learn More About Dr. Samantha:

Dr. SAMANTHA BRODY is a licensed naturopathic physician and acupuncturist, and the founder of Evergreen Natural Health Center in Portland, OR. For decades in her private practice and virtual consulting business Dr. Samantha has helped thousands of people transform their lives with her innovative, personalized approach. She is the author of Overcoming Overwhelm: Dismantle Your Stress from the Inside Out (Sounds True Publishing). You can find her online at www.DrSamantha.com and on social @drsamanthand.

It’s hard to believe but on December 1, Mother’s Quest Podcats will be turning 3 years old. In honor of that milestone, I’m going to record a special episode with some of the key takeaways and reflections I’ve had on my journey over the last 3 years. I would also love to share your voice and your reflections on things that you’ve been able to take away from these conversations.

Please take a moment to either send me an email at juile@mothersquest.com or leave me a voice message by using the speak pipe tool on the podcast page at www.mothersquest.com. I look forward to hearing all you have to share and celebrating this milestone with you!

Join Speaker Coach Alexia Vernon as Ambassador in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group

Last weekend, I had an amazing experience hosting an Improv for Speakers Master Class with the incredible speaker coach Alexia Vernon. Even though many of you wanted to join us in person but couldn’t, you can still benefit from an opportunity to learn from Alexia. This month in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, Alexia is our “ambassador” and will be sharing tips and resources and answering your questions about public speaking. So, if you’re not yet a member of the group, come on over to www.mothersquest.com/community to request to join us.

Want More Reflection in Your Life?
Book A Discovery Call

Some key themes that emerge from all my conversations, is the power of reflection and the power of being seen. These are elements that I bring, not only to every podcast interview, but to my one-one-one coaching and Mother’s Quest Circle facilitation. If you’re seeking more space for pause and reflection in your life, I encourage you to reach out to me for a discovery call to learn how we might work together. Visit mothersquest.as.me/discoverysession to schedule a time to talk.

⚡️Have you been feeling a nudge to say “yes” to create your Mother’s Quest Manifesto? The official challenge and giveaway may be over, but the invitation and content is always there for you to create your #oneminutemommanifesto

Here are some easy steps you can follow…

👉 Join the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group www.mothersquest.com/community to find the “unit” for the Manifesto Challenge’s reflective prompts and live videos. It’s all waiting for you!

👉 Follow along with the “unit” at your own pace. Share your reflections along the way in the comments. Let us cheer you on!

👉 Give yourself some quiet time to create your own #oneminutemommanifesto in whatever way feels good…writing, art, photos, song. It can be simple and quick. Don’t overthink it. What matters most, as a guiding light, for how you want to live your life at this stage of raising your children?

👉 Share your #oneminutemommanifesto on social media with the hashtag. Tag me if you can to make sure I’ve seen it. Consider nominating a friend who would benefit.

–Join us, share or tag a friend, or comment on how the #oneminutemommanifesto has helped you if you’ve already created yours.–

Would LOVE for more of you to join us in claiming, or reclaiming, HOW you want to live your life ✨🙌

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Three of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

—

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).

I’m excited to share this episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast with someone I deeply admire and whose recent book “Spiral: A Catalyst for Innovation and Expansion” was a revelation to me… speaker, author, thought leader, homeschooling mother, and CEO of the renewable energy start-up muGrid Analytics, Amy Simpkins.

Before a self-described identity crisis brought her to the work she’s doing today, Amy was quite literally on the path to becoming an astronaut. After pursuing a degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and a masters in Astronautical Engineering from USC, she began a 10-year tenure as an aspiring Spacecraft Systems Architect designing, integrating, and operating spacecraft at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. How she determined she no longer wanted to become an astronaut and the power of being truly seen by someone else, which led to her becoming a coach, are just a few of the topics we explore during our conversation.

I first came to know Amy when I was facilitating a virtual “Power Circle” for the organization Emerging Women and Amy was a participant. Right away, I knew she was someone special, as she brought the insight of an engineer’s brain, a poet’s heart, and an alchemist’s life journey to every session.

Using her unique gifts, Amy lights the way for so many of us with how she explains and embodies the iterative spiral path to life, motherhood, and entrepreneurship. And in this conversation, as we explored her wisdom and lessons learned along all the E.P.I.C. guideposts, it felt like we revealed together the creative genius, a quality she most admired in her mother, that is also inside of her.

I left feeling more at ease than when I arrived, noticing the places and ways that I can bring more integration and awareness about the spiral processes in my life, and committed to making space, as Amy challenged me to do, to put down my phone, and sit in the pause and exploration of a question in my life, rather than rushing to a solution.

I invite you to do the same right now…to push pause, really listen to this conversation, and create space for integration, curiosity, iteration, and creativity in your E.P.I.C. life.

Much appreciation,

P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Click forward now to pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by:Olivia Parr-Rud

Olivia pioneered the research in Predictive Analytics and Business Intelligence that led to the writing of her first book, Data Mining Cookbook, Modeling for Acquisition, Risk and Customer Relationship Management (Wiley 2001). Her passion for finding successful solutions for her clients inspired her research on leadership and corporate culture and the unveiling of the link between advances in technology and the increasing need for human and organizational development. Her findings are detailed in her second book, Business Intelligence Success Factors, Aligning for Success in a Global Economy (Wiley/SAS, 2009).

Olivia has a BA in Mathematics and an MS in Decision and Information Systems, with a concentration in Statistics. She is a certified Holacracy™ Practitioner. Holacracy™ is a set of structures and practices designed to build organizational adaptability and resilience.

Mentioned from this Episode:

This Week’s Challenge:

For this week’s challenge, Amy challenges us to invite more space and exploration for something that we are trying to find the solution for. She encourages us to put down our phones, invite in some meditation and mystery, and allow ourselves to be in a state of pause before rushing to resolution. Amy also shared about a float therapy tank experience she has done to quiet her mind and I decided to say “yes” to trying this as well. I’ve identified one to test out not far from my house and think this may be a great way to welcome in some pause.

Learn More About Amy:

Amy Simpkins is the speaker, author, facilitator, and thought leader in innovation for technology, entrepreneurs, and everybody. She believes that innovation is for everyone and holds the key to both personal fulfillment and lasting global change.

As an MIT-trained engineer, she spent 15 years as a spacecraft systems architect, someone who is responsible for holding the big picture vision for complex space exploration missions, ensuring that all components of the vision were well-integrated into a cohesive whole, and implementing that vision with flexibility and adaptability. She then takes those proven design methodologies and big-picture mindset, infuse them with a heaping side of intuition and soul, and put it all to work to help individuals and organizations bring innovative ideas into reality so they can change the world with their unique magic.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California. She has designed, integrated, and flown spacecraft with Lockheed Martin, and she’s also the CEO of the hot renewable energy startup, muGrid Analytics.

She lives with her amazing entrepreneurial husband and three rambunctious children in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains outside Denver, Colorado. She’s a messy chef, a world traveler, a taekwondo green belt, a vocal music minor, a homeschool mom, and a tough cookie in the Colorado backcountry.

Announcements:

Want More Reflection in Your Life? Book A Discovery Call

Some key themes that emerge from this conversation with Amy Simpkins, is the power of reflection and the power of being seen. These are elements that I bring, not only to every podcast interview, but to my one-one-one coaching and Mother’s Quest Circle facilitation. If you’re seeking more space for pause and reflection in your life, I encourage you to reach out to me for a discovery call to learn how we might work together. Visit mothersquest.as.me/discoverysession to schedule a time to talk.

One Minute Mom Manifesto

⚡️Have you been feeling a nudge to say “yes” to create your Mother’s Quest Manifesto? The official challenge and giveaway may be over, but the invitation and content is always there for you to create your #oneminutemommanifesto

Here are some easy steps you can follow…

👉 Join the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group www.mothersquest.com/community to find the “unit” for the Manifesto Challenge’s reflective prompts and live videos. It’s all waiting for you!

👉 Follow along with the “unit” at your own pace. Share your reflections along the way in the comments. Let us cheer you on!

👉 Give yourself some quiet time to create your own #oneminutemommanifesto in whatever way feels good…writing, art, photos, song. It can be simple and quick. Don’t overthink it. What matters most, as a guiding light, for how you want to live your life at this stage of raising your children?

👉 Share your #oneminutemommanifesto on social media with the hashtag. Tag me if you can to make sure I’ve seen it. Consider nominating a friend who would benefit.

–Join us, share or tag a friend, or comment on how the #oneminutemommanifesto has helped you if you’ve already created yours.–

Would LOVE for more of you to join us in claiming, or reclaiming, HOW you want to live your life ✨🙌

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Three of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).